Comprehensive geriatric test predicts long-term mortality

March 10, 2014 in Medicine & Health / Cardiology

For older patients hospitalized with heart failure, a comprehensive geriatric assessment score is associated with mortality over two years, according to a study published online March 4 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

(HealthDay)—For older patients hospitalized with heart failure, a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) score is associated with mortality over two years, according to a study published online March 4 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Carlos Rodriguez-Pascual, M.D., Ph.D., from Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Vigo in Spain, and colleagues examined the correlation between CGA and two-year mortality in a prospective study involving 487 patients aged ≥75 years admitted for decompensated heart failure. A CGA score (range, 0 to 10) was calculated at discharge based on limitation in activities of daily living, mobility limitation, comorbidity, cognitive decline, and previous medication use.

The researchers found that a 1-point increase in the CGA score correlated with elevated mortality (hazard ratio, 1.19). Similar results were observed, irrespective of age; sex; left ventricular ejection fraction; and the coexistence of atrial fibrillation, ischemic heart disease, or hypertensive cardiopathy. The association with higher death risk was consistent for all components of the CGA score (e.g., hazard ratio, 1.78 for three or more versus no limitations in activities of daily living; 1.36 for moderate or severe versus no or mild mobility limitations; and 2.48 for previous cognitive decline).

"Future research should establish whether appropriate interventions addressing the individual components of this CGA could improve the prognosis of these patients," the authors write.